Latency 2018

Latency Conference has wrapped up for another year and as usual it was a fun ride. Planning has already started for next year with sponsors lined up and also a keynote or two in the waiting. Stay tuned, but it is highly likely it will be in the first week or two of November, 2019.

The night before Latency was the Speakers & Sponsors dinner. It is always nice to see fellow speakers and also the people responsible for bringing the conference to fruition (the sponsors) meet and mingle in a social occasion. Being an IT conference, there are always a diverse bunch of characters, but the weather turned it on and it was a good turnout. We even had a gatecrasher or two, not mentioning any names, Rhys..

We all awoke bright and early for a 6.30am start. With most of the set up already being done the night before it was really all about getting the sponsors and food set up and the AV tested. First issue; the AV worked fine with the desktop set up but as soon as we plugged in a Mac it started seriously misbehaving. My highlight of the day was watching about 12 software engineers standing around scratching their chins trying to solve the issue. Many hands make light work?

We soon had a solution, which wasn't ideal, but would have to do. Although, it wasn't long before we realised the AV wasn't adequate - but Ross McKillop did a great job minimising any damage. It was disappointing because we were sold the venue on the strength of the AV set up. That reflected in the feedback we requested and received post event.

For example:

The sound quality at the venue was horrible. It was difficult to hear what the presenters were saying.

We like offbeat venues and are happy to be 'the bit shit' conference in town, so holding it at your traditional conference venue is not really an option for us. That being said, we know what we need to improve on.

There are rumours of extending the conference outside of Perth, due to popular demand, so stay tuned for announcements there too. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for upcoming announcements. Check out this years teaser below..

I'd like to thank all the attendees for making it a great day. Finally, I'd just like to thank my fellow crew on the organising committee. Tania, Min, Ross and Nick really pulled it together and allowed me to do what I am good at; nothing.

Cheers,

Hamish